About to listen to this. I promise to be more open-minded this time: I listened to Hard Candy once and couldn't actually hear it because I was too busy shouting WHY MADONNA WHYYYYYY?? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING

Superstar might be the worst song I've heard all year. I cringed for the entirety of the song and for several minutes afterward. Just abominable in almost every respect. The the guitar-driven beat sounds like R-list Cut Copy, and the lyrics sound like something a 9 year old wisely hid in her diary. My jaw kept dropping further and further until it was through the floor. I can't grade it because I don't hate any letter in the alphabet enough to associate it with this song.

I don't mind the album itself, but it makes her present place as follower instead of trend-setter all the more obvious. These dubstep beats are going to sound absolutely horrendous in 5 or 6 years, and I already dislike US dubstep. A few bright spots here and there, more so than Hard Candy (the last few tracks are, in general, way better than everything else), but it's not some excellent return to form. There's nothing particularly refreshing or interesting here...I hear songs like Girl Gone Wild on the radio every day.

I need to listen to Hung Up/Sorry/Get Together now, for about an hour straight.

What I like: Gang Bang, I'm a Sinner, I Don't Give A, Give Me All Your Luvin' (seems to work as an album track)

What I despise: Superstar (every bit as bad as LM says), Girl Gone Wild, Turn Up the Radio. (All three tracks are generic radio crap.)

I never once expected the album to be on the cutting edge. Madonna is fifty-plus now and is probably only exposed to new music through her teenage daughter and whatever toy boy she's shagging this week. There's nothing new in pop music anymore anyway. It's all been before, mostly by her. If she's going to reference anyone, it might as well be herself.

Falling Free is the kind of strange drifting ballad she excels at. It reminds me of Paradise (Not for Me) and To Have and Not to Hold. I wish she'd do more of this and embrace maturity.